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View synonyms for old wives' tale
old wives' tale
noun
- a traditional belief, story, or idea that is often of a superstitious nature.
old wives' tale
noun
- a belief, usually superstitious or erroneous, passed on by word of mouth as a piece of traditional wisdom
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Word History and Origins
Origin of old wives' tale1
First recorded in 1670–80
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Idioms and Phrases
A superstition, as in Toads cause warts? That's an old wives' tale . This expression was already known in ancient Greece, and a version in English was recorded in 1387. Despite invoking bigoted stereotypes of women and old people, it survives.Discover More
Example Sentences
The shock of what took place down there has him recalling every old wives tale about witches that he has ever heard.
From Project Gutenberg
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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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